Small town America has its charm—not to mention its fair share of romance and mystery!

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Everyone knows small towns have their own unique charm, that’s why they make fabulous settings for stories! Turquoise Morning Press presents the best of their small town settings—all in one volume, and for one very small town price!

From Drakes Springs, Florida, to Briny Bay, North Carolina, to Wheeler, Texas, where a little romance and a lot of murder and mystery take center-stage—and then to Honey Creek, Ohio and Legend, Tennessee, where home-grown romance blooms, and love lives right next door.

Eight fabulous authors share their views of small town charm, love and mystery in this eight book boxed set—providing you with a satisfying glimpse into the lives and stories of the quirky characters who live in these charming settings.

Bloom by Julie Anne Lindsey In a town filled with her past, she never expected to find her future. Seven years ago Cynthia left Honey Creek with a broken heart. Three years ago Mitchell arrived with one. If they let it, love will find a way to Bloom.

Julie Anne Lindsey really brought me back to the books that made me love to read. Amazon Reviewer, 5 Stars

Bloom is one of those romances that transports you back in time. Amazon Reviewer, 5 Stars

Buried in Briny Bay by Bobbye Terry Roxie Turner finds herself up to her neck in trouble her lifelong nemesis, Georgia Collins, is discovered buried in the town’s landfill. Worse, with her characteristic Southern sass, Roxie has been saying she’d kill Georgia for more than twenty years.

I had Janet Evanovich, Julie Garwood, Jill Shalvis and Pamela DuMond all grouped together for this category. But I think the crazy sisters, Roxie and Trixie just had to come out on top. What a feel good book Buried in Briny Bay was, as it kept me smiling from the first page till the last. Another Look Book Reviews Award, Best Book to Bring on Smiles

Midnight in Legend, TN by Magdalena Scott. Midnight Shelby has grand ideas to help her adopted hometown, and she’s not going to let a stick-in-the-mud realtor get in her way.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. I must warn you, however, that [Magdalena Scott] will quickly become addictive. Brenda Tulley of The Romance Studio, 5 Hearts

Murder at the Blue Plate Café by Judy Alter Small towns are supposed to be idyllic and peaceful, but when Kate Chambers returns to her hometown of Wheeler, Texas, she soon learns it is not the comfortable place it was when she grew up.

Alter serves up a delicious whodunit by stirring up a healthy serving of suspense and a splash of romance, then bakes them to downhome perfection. Add an appealing protagonist, and you have Murder at the Blue Plate Café. Highly recommended. Polly Iyer

Shades of the Future by Suzanne Lilly Mariah Davis loves animals, running, and her hunk of a boyfriend, Kevin Creamer. Everything looks bright for her until the day she finds a pair of sunglasses that allows her to see the future.

Suzanne Lilly weaves an engaging world populated with charming and eccentric characters that readers will want to visit again and again. Brenda Hiatt, Award winning romance and young adult author

Heart to Heart by Jan Scarbrough When Jeremy’s aunt gives him a second chance, he must decide if he believes in the unbelievable and the pet psychic who teaches him about faith…and love.

If you want a humorous, sweet book for a quick read at the pool or beach, this is it. Ms. Addie is still stirring up things in the town of Legend, even after her death. Amazon Reviewer, 4 Stars

Rebuild My World by Cheryl Norman More than anything, Taylor Drake wants her life back. Suffering from the agoraphobia that has plagued her since a brutal attack, the once confident and successful photographer now cowers behind closed doors with a loaded pistol.

…Ms. Norman is a gifted storyteller. I loved Rebuild My World and eagerly turned the pages, excited to see what event would next happen to keep this story moving. Not only is it well plotted, but the characterizations draw you into the lives of these people. Ms. Norman tells a compelling tale that keeps you guessing. Vine Voice Amazon Reviewer, 5 Stars

Ice Princess by Jennifer Anderson Mya Newman never minded the routine or quiet that came with living in Honey Creek, Ohio. For her senior year, she craves something exciting to happen instead of it melting into a cookie cutter routine like the previous years.

…a wonderfully emotional short story with just the right balance of sweetness and sadness. I recommend it to anyone who relishes a charming story of love and friendship. LASR Review, Great Read! 4 Stars

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Julie Anne Lindsey is a multi-genre author who writes the stories that keep her up at night. Julie writes sweet romance for Honey Creek Books, the Calypso series with Lyrical Press/Kensington and pens the The Patience Price Mysteries for Carina Press/Harlequin.

Bobbye Terry is a multi-published author of romantic comedy, fantasy and suspense—writing where southern charm sometimes meets macabre reality. Her awards include Eppie finalist and two-time finalist of Detroit’s Bookseller’s Best Award.

Magdalena Scott lives in her own fantasy world of Magdalenaville, Indiana, and spends her time writing stories with small town settings. Magdalena knows that life in a “burg” is seldom dull—if you’re paying attention. She is the Amazon bestselling author of the Ladies of Legend romance series.

Judy Alter, award-winning author, penned the five books in the Kelly O’Connell Mysteries series. With Murder at the Blue Plate Café, she moved from inner city Fort Worth to small-town East Texas to create a new set of characters in a setting modeled after a restaurant that was for years one of her family’s favorites.

Suzanne Lilly writes lighthearted young adult stories with a splash of suspense, a flash of the unexplained, a dash of romance, and always a happy ending. Her short stories have appeared in numerous places online and in print. She lives in Northern California where she reads, writes, cooks, swims, and teaches elementary students.

Jan Scarbrough is the author of the popular Bluegrass Reunion series, writing heartwarming contemporary romances about home and family, single moms and children, and if the plot allows—horses. She is an Amazon bestselling author of the Ladies of Legend contemporary romance series and a RWA Golden Heart finalist.

Cheryl Norman turned to fiction writing after a career in telecommunications and won the 2003 EPPIE award for her contemporary romance, Last Resort. A mention in Publisher’s Weekly called her one of ten new romance authors to watch. She resides in Florida and is currently writing the Drakes Springs romance series.

Jennifer Anderson wears the hats of Mommy, wife, cat owner, author, and marketing coordinator. She has lived either coast, but has spent the majority of her life in the Midwest, where she says her heart grows with the love of family and friends, and where she finds inspiration for her young adult and romance stories.

You can meet the authors here during the next two weeks as we celebrate Small Town Charm and all the fun stories included in this new box set.

Writing dedications can be a daunting task, because, let’s face it, there are so many people who pushed your precious BB along the line to publication. SO many. BUT what’s easy to forget is this: Dedications are where authors get to be themselves.

Writing is like acting. We step into the world and live there a while. We take on the roles of the characters and we play them with 100% of our souls. We are heroic, evil, ardent…whatever is true to the character and organic to the scene – we are that. Then we finish and the novel and talk directly to the reader. As ourselves. <– gasp. *Clutches chest* Imagine! I love this part.

When I write a dedication, I write as if I’m speaking to the reader across a table covered in half-eaten food and empty cups, with probably a stack of books and definitely a board game. “Who do I want to thank for this one?”Here it goes…. and I pour it out. Every dedication is unique to the story, the process, the life that evolved as the manuscript transformed from fuzzy concept to polished novel. This is my latest.

My YA paranormal/fantasy, Prophecy, releases October 6th. So who did I thank? Well, I started with Fangirls, but I didn’t forget Stan Lee. Here it is!

I owe enormous unspeakable thanks to fangirls. To the ones who say it’s okay to be excited and geek out about things; the
ones who pull me into fandoms and onto ships with their crazy enthusiasm. Thank you. You made this novel happen.
Thank you, cyber friends, who entertain my endless, “what ifs,” read my fanfiction and endure my obsessive pinning. Thank you, dear friend
and literary agent, Dawn Dowdle, for believing in me and talking me off recurring ledge situations. Thank you, Jennifer Anderson for reading
all the pages. So very many pages. You make them better. Thank you, Stan Lee for your interpretation of Thor, and Marvel moviemakers for
your execution of this captivating character. Thank you, Twitter friends, who listened to my mythology-based ramblings and questions and for
your amazing, enthusiastic, and energizing responses to: “What if all the mythology stories were true? What if they collided? What if I did that?”
Thank you, Paige Christian and Renee Rocco for taking a chance on Callie, Liam, and I, and for making our story something worth reading.
Finally, deep curtsy to my husband, Bryan, my best friend and partner in excessive tomfoolery. Without your continued support and enabling,
I wouldn’t be a novelist. I’d have given up long ago and settled for a regular-person hobby like collecting toothpicks or painting pinecones.
To anyone still reading this acknowledgements page: Thank you, too. I appreciate you.

Prophecy, Calypso book #1

On the other side of death, is destiny.

Callie Ingram is spending her senior year focused on one thing:
swimming. Her skill as a competitive swimmer is going to secure a
scholarship and her future, or so she hopes. She has big plans, and Liam
Hale, her gorgeous new neighbor, isn’t going to affect them. But when
Callie sees Liam beheading someone, she learns his family has a secret
that will change everything. The Hales are Vikings, demi-gods who’ve
been charged by The Fates to find their new destined leader.

Callie’s caught in the middle of a budding Norse apocalypse, in love
with Liam Hale and desperate to protect her best friend…who the Hales
believe is marked for transformation. Putting the clues together as fast
as she can, she discovers she has the power to rewrite destiny, for herself
and all humankind.

Blogger Friends! Join me for my release day book launch party?? Tasty Book Tours is putting together a great send off for Callie, Liam and the guys You can sign up to be part of the party here: Prophecy: Tasty Book Blast

I’m a binge watcher. Apparently this is a problem? It’s on the news lately. I don’t know. The first time I saw a segment on “binge watching (ers) I was excited. They gave it a name. “Hey! That’s ME.” Imagine my shock to learn this isn’t a healthy behavior. *sarc* Whatever. I love television and I really really really love technology for making any show I want available RIGHT-FLIPPING-NOW and in bulk. *beams* *rejoices* I can try a new pilot, love it and immediately settle in for 72 hours of non-stop, back-2-back awesome. I never have to wait a week or worse – all summer for more. It’s *magical*. As a result, I have a real attitude when watching television like normal people. I’m spoiled. I want it ALL and I want it NOW. I once watched ten seasons of Lost in two months. I should point out the scary nerd rage I exhibited after the finale. It still makes me mad, but whatever…my therapist says I have to let it go.

My television obsession is pointed down the road to Out-of-Control, but I don’t mind. I like it. I embrace it. Television gives my brain things to do. My grandparents called television bad names back in the nineteen hundreds, like “boob tube” and “idiot box.” I can’t even. I mean, what? My shows, plots and characters are stimulating, intriguing, inspiring and wildly entertaining. And I’m not a boob or an idiot… I don’t think. But, I love my shows. They’re real to me. They are my people. Like books, but that’s another post all together. Ahhhhhh. Books.

Because summer messed up my regularly scheduled programs, I’m rewatching things I love, plus meeting new series. I’ve hit it off with a few. I’m not sure what YOU watch, but here’s a random selection of television things I love:

The Walking Dead

ARROW <– zomg this all day. this. this. this

Teen Wolf

Orphan Black

Justified

Vampire Diaries

The 100

The Originals

Awkward

Haven

Castle

The Flash <– hasn’t even started and I already love it

Supernatural

See what I mean? And you don’t want to see what happens if I’m channel surfing and find a Veronica Mars or Gilmore Girls or Buffy marathon. Goodbye Julie.

And when things don’t go my way during my shows, I write fanfiction. Is that taking it too far? Have I crossed a line to obsession? Is binge-watching the gateway to a personality disorder? If so, I have that. And, I don’t immediately write the fanfiction. I *try* giving the screenwriters a chance to do fix it, but if they don’t, I have no choice. Then, I yell and throw popcorn at the screen, wailing “NoooooO! You’re doing it WRONG!” Then I write fanfiction.

I sometimes draw pictures of my shows’ characters, too. I’m a terrible artist, but it’s still true. I buy fangirl shirts and go on twitter rants. Apparently, I also blog about it. What can I say? I’m an obsessive fanner. Binge-watcher. Happy lady.

I’m doing some late spring cleaning. The kids are gearing up for back-2-school and we’re cleaning closets, pitching outgrown things and sizing up the tally of how-broke-I’ll-be-when-I-replace-all-the-out-grown-things. Then, my brain goes, “If I’m cleaning their closets, might as well tackle mine, too.”Dumb. Dumb. Terrible idea. I have a million times more clothes than them and I am an idiot. My OCD makes me do these things. How could I LIVE in a home where three of the closets are clean and mine aren’t? (We have 2 walk-ins in our master bedroom, but Hubsy’s is Stepford Husband Perfect). Mine is not. Mine is zomg.

Ten million dresses and one hundred zillion pairs of heels, plus double that in handbags aside….there are T-shirts. So. Many. T-shirts.

It seems I have a T-shirt buying problem. It went undiagnosed until now, but it’s official. I’ve bought them all, folks. And**bonus horror** thanks to the Authoring-Makes-My-A$$-Enorm job hazard, I have some shirts in *multiple* sizes. Are you dying? Because I’m dying.

I’ve always said if I was rich I’d open a T-shirt shop. Heck, in my Patience Price Mysteries series, the heroine’s parents DO have a T-shirt shop. I mostly made that their business so I could come up with silly things to put on their shirts. <– Sad. Sad sign of the troubles.You’d think all this would’ve connected by now but caffeine and sleep deprivation have apparently damaged my brain because I’m staring at the *piles* and *piles* of shirts and thinking… “Where did you all come from? You glorious beasts!” And then I imagine rolling in them and wearing them all at once, stripping off a layer at a time, like maybe on the hour, like a human cuckoo clock all day long — and then it hits me. This isn’t normal. I mean, sure, normal doesn’t fit me most days anyway, but this. This is. Not. Like not at all. Normal.

And what’s worse is I don’t care. I’m a mess. A happy-happy mess with awesome T-shirts.

Maybe one day I’ll open that shop and sell slightly used, heavily loved T-shirts to get new ones.

Sixteen-year-old Jess Tennant has never met any of her relatives, until her mom suddenly drags her out of London to spend the summer in the tiny English town where her family’s from. Her mom’s decision is surprising, but even more surprising is the town’s reaction to Jess. Everywhere she goes, people look at her like they’ve seen a ghost. In a way, they have—she looks just like her cousin Freya, who died shortly before Jess came to town.

Jess immediately feels a strange connection to Freya, whom she never got to meet alive. But the more Jess learns about the secrets Freya was keeping while she was alive, the more suspicious Freya’s death starts to look. One thing is for sure: this will be anything but the safe, boring summer in the country Jess was expecting.

Beloved author Jane Casey breaks new ground with How to Fall, a thrilling and insightfully written mystery.

Review:

I received this novel from NetGalley and read it in a day. I stopped to sleep, but not for long. As a mega fan of both YA and mystery, I felt the concept was too good to pass up and I wasn’t disappointed. I was immediately caught up in the language and description of the small English town where Jess and her mother arrive for the summer. Casey makes it clear from page one that something is amiss in this town and she kept me looking for answers to the very end. Jess was a lovable, strong willed character I easily connected with and rooted for. Her curiosity and determination to unearth the truth of what happened to Freya (a cousin she’d never met) was admirable. The pace Casey unravels the story is exciting. The foreshadowing is amazing. The touch of romance is wonderful. I’d gladly follow Jess on another adventure and I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to discover another fun YA series and author.